A faster banh mi sandwich

A recipe for the Banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich, with quick work, maintains the porky-pickled-fiery essence of a classic banh mi with easy-to-find ingredients.

A Good Appetite: Melissa Clark shares a speedy way to get the mouth-tingling combination of flavorful meats and pickled veggies on a crusty bun with her version of the Vietnamese sandwich banh mi. Recipe: Shortcut Banh Mi with Pickled Carrots and Daikon.

I didn’t come up with a banh mi recipe under the illusion that I could improve the classic Vietnamese sandwich.

To my mind, that mouth-tingling combination of intensely flavored meats, crunchy daikon pickles, herbs, mayonnaise and hot sauce is poetry on a crusty bun, wanting for nothing other than a hungry eater to devour it.

But since there are no banh mi places near me, I had to make my own.

Authenticity was not the goal. Nor was coming up with a newfangled banh mi variation like so many I’ve been seeing lately (Baoguette’s sloppy Joe banh mi with spicy curry beef and green mango, for example).

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I wanted a sandwich that, with quick work, would maintain the porky-pickled-fiery essence of a classic banh mi with easy-to-find ingredients.

At first I tried a version of my favorite style, packed with Vietnamese cold cuts and silken pate. I tried substituting Italian mortadella and French country pate. But even when mixed with quick-pickled daikon and carrots and squirts of mayonnaise and sriracha, the sandwich tasted strangely flat.

This is probably because the Vietnamese cold cuts, including the bolognalike sausage called cha lua that’s a staple in my favorite banh mi, are seasoned with fish sauce and spices, which makes them entirely different from the French and Italian flavorings.

So, for the next round, I abandoned the charcuterie route and decided to focus on another style of banh mi made primarily from grilled pork. Pork loin and chops are usually used for this type of banh mi, but it can be hard to get them to absorb enough intense flavor of hot sauce and fish sauce without lengthy marinating.

Ground pork, however, would instantly suck up seasonings and add a loose shagginess to each mouthful. To bind it together so it didn’t fall out of the bread as I ate it, I stirred the mayonnaise and hot sauce directly into the pan with the meat.

Then I stuffed it into an airy roll along with my pickled vegetables for crunch and acidity, sprigs of cilantro and mint for freshness and slivers of jalapeño to cut the richness of the mayonnaise-laden pork.

And this hungry eater gobbled it up, my banh mi cravings thoroughly satisfied — at least for the moment.

SHORTCUT BANH MI WITH PICKLED CARROTS AND DAIKON

Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

For the pickled vegetables:

¾ cup shredded carrots

¾ cup thinly sliced Persian, Kirby or European cucumbers

½ cup shredded daikon radish

2 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the pork:

½ cup mayonnaise

4 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

2 to 3 tablespoons sriracha or other chili sauce, to taste

1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 pound ground pork

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

½ cup chopped fresh basil

Finely grated zest of 1 lime

Juice of ½ lime

6 small hero rolls or 2 baguettes cut into thirds, split

Fresh jalapeño, thinly sliced and seeded, for serving

Mint sprigs, for serving

Cilantro sprigs, for serving.

1. To make the pickled vegetables: In a bowl, toss together the carrots, cucumbers, daikon, vinegar, sugar and salt and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the pork. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon scallions and 1 to 2 tablespoons chili sauce, to taste. Cover tightly and set aside.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons scallions and the garlic. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add pork and cook, breaking up with a fork, until no longer pink, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon chili sauce and the fish sauce, pepper, salt and sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the basil, lime zest and lime juice. Let cool 5 minutes, then add mayonnaise mixture.

4. Fill bread with pork mixture. Press the jalapeño, mint and cilantro sprigs into the pork. Spoon some pickled vegetables onto the sandwiches and serve any extra alongside.